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More world-building, and Chrysalis makes her 'triumphant' return to Canterlot!

Sorry this took so long, still trying to work out the kinks, pun not intended, with the sex-scenes for the chapters where I 'blacked out' the clop, and trying to condense the story into fewer chapters.

I was planning on a fifty chapter 'first arc', but I think it's gonna end up sixty or sixty-five chapters instead. Yeeesh!

CHAPTER 43

It was likely taking all of Captain Rosebush’s self-control to not swear out loud as she watched the train start to pull into one of the more distant wings of Canterlot Central Station, as her Royal Guards had to struggle to keep a growing knot of Ponies out of the way, Ponies who had no business being up at three in the morning and carrying cameras and press-badges.

“Princess Celestia, with your permission, once the Changelings are securely contained in their new quarters, I am going to start hunting down whoever let slip about this … debacle, and have them barred for life from Canterlot.” The Pegasus muttered darkly, glaring at the knot of reporters with enough intensity Princess Celestia was surprised nopony was spontaneously combusting on the spot.

“Permission granted, Captain, you have my full blessings. This is a horrendous breach of security, and if I find any of the Royal Guard were directly involved, they can consider their position terminated and full charges laid against them the instant you find enough evidence to prove their guilt.” The Solar Princess murmured, only thousands of years of experience keeping her face and body-posture the perfect expression of serene calm, despite the whirling maelstrom of emotion inside of her.

If the media, scandal-hungry as ever, didn’t devour her in a few hours as she tried to explain what had really happened in Ponyville. If Rosebush’s ponies could provide enough proof to finally pin that vile old bastard, Bluebone, to the wall and maybe topple his hateful little pro-unicorn group in the process. If the Changelings really were being honest in their desire to surrender and seek peace.

If Luna and Twilight really needed the entire contents of that box …

That is the very last thing you need to be thinking about right now, Celestia. The Solar Monarch chided herself mentally, eyes boring holes into the train’s carriages, seeking some sign of treachery, either from within or without. Even your best Magi couldn’t tell you if the Queen of the Changelings was telepathic, only that she had empathic powers on par with Cadence’s own. Faust only knows what damage she could do if she plucks the information about how vulnerable Twilight and Luna are right now from your head …

Oh Faust. What if she really can read my mind, and knows that Discord and I are ‘entangled’? What if she can, and she gets that information, and then attempts to use it as leverage against me? Captain Rosebush and Commander Nightshade have assured me that we can hold the Changelings in the Red Rooms in the northern wing of the castle, that the Night Guard has sealed up the secret doors and booby-trapped the passages between that wing and the rest of the castle, and Bleak Mountain himself is doing the enchanting on the Castle Guards’ helmets to help ward their minds against any telepathic attacks.

It was a testimony to the dedication and hard-work of her little Ponies that the work was being done so quickly, and with no complaint, but still the Solar Monarch fretted that she once again had too many irons in the fire with the situation before her, but no single distraction before her could safely be put aside to focus on the others.

This would be far easier if Luna was not bound to Twilight right now because of their Sympathy! If either, or better yet, both of them were by my side, I would have two very intelligent, very powerful Alicorns to advise and help me! Celestia grumbled as the the train came to a close, and a pair of Unicorns in the muted tan-and-gold uniforms of the Border Guard, a mare with a shockingly vibrant pink with an ethereal mane of neon-bright indigo, and a dull brown stallion with a wheat-golden mane and tail, came out of the nearest carriage.

As Celestia raised an eyebrow at the unlikely pair and Rosebush muttered obscenities under her breath about Border Guards and a lack of protocol, the mare trotted over to the Solar Monarch and the Captain of the Royal Guard, while the stallion sighed heavily and limped over to the press-ponies, his horn flickering with barely-visible ripples of magic.

Either he is a student of the Empty Horn style, or there’s something strange going on with that one. Celestia thought to herself as the pink mare approached and gave a crisp salute that seemed very much at odds with the huge eyes she was staring at her Princess with. “Ma-Ma’am, your Highness, Captain Twilight Glimmer of Garrison 42, reporting.”

“Where are the Magi, captain? Why are they not reporting to her majesty, and why is a Border Guard so far from her post?” Rosebush snapped, glaring down at the other mare, wings rustling with her anger.

“Apologies Ma’am, but we weren’t able to send a message-spell, something about a shortage of Dragon’s Fire? But the Magi thought of an idea about how to handle Ponies who might stumble onto the scene, and Private Dappled Light is enacting the plan right about … now.” Cringing slightly, the pink Unicorn turned her head and winced as there was a sudden burst of noise from the knot of reporters on the other side of the wall of Royal Guards.

Celestia looked on with amazement as the press-ponies started arguing about who had called them out here on such a ‘worthless’ scoop, there was nothing going on, they were tired, cold, so on and so forth while her own Royal Guards shook themselves and looked around in irritation and confusion, with the strange Border Guard standing just behind the more ornately-dressed Royal Guards with a tired, resigned look on his face.

“Captain, did that Unicorn just use empathic magic?” Rosebush’s voice came out in a strangled whisper as the Pegasi stared at the rapidly-retreated plots of the press-ponies. “Colourless, nearly invisible empathic magic at that?”

“Yes, Ma’am. It appears that Private Dappled Light’s unique talent is to make a set area around himself appear unappealing and unimportant for a short while, including himself. It probably explains why such a rare and powerful talent ended up being wasted on a border with the Badlands.”

It took a considerable amount of effort on Celestia’s part to not show any signs of the distress she was feeling at the news that an empath of such power had just been floating around the border, unregistered but somehow still a member of her beloved Royal Guard!

Ponies with empathic or telepathic abilities were rare, and naturally occurring gifts were rarer still, and were supposed to be detected as early as possible so Celesita or Bleak Mountain could find them and teach them how to use their abilities with restraint and respect for the lives around them. History was rife with Ponies bearing such gifts causing events so traumatic they echoed through history, either accidentally or with grim purpose. Rarely had a natural-born empath not been tempted to tread darker paths, especially since such gifts often made the empath in question seem strange, and thus isolated and mistrusted by those around them.

Celestia was well aware of what happened when an outcast gained overwhelming power over her tormentors, and she had sworn an oath millennia ago to always seek to help those with such gifts learn to use them responsibly and with mercy in their hearts.

Faust only knew how many ‘accidental’ romances Cadence had caused before Celestia had managed to help the young filly learn how to ‘turn off’ her powers, and it had taken almost two years to do so, with the first year mostly hopelessly explaining to the stubborn young Pegicorn that just because Ponies could fall in love didn’t mean they should fall in love, especially with just a random bystander, which was distressingly difficult given the rebellious stage that Celestia had found her young ‘niece’, and Cadence's hideously lop-sided view on romance, fuelled as much by hormones and cheesy romance novels so popular with young girls as Cadence’s own twisted family life.

The fact that at least a dozen failed marriages were the result of her meddling had been the final straw of Cadence’s stubborn refusal to learn to control her powers and not just let them activate wildly. Rebellious teenage urges and mis-interpreting her subconscious urges as the ‘will’ of Love itself, to cause ponies to fall in love at the drop of a hat, coupled with the budding impulses of her Ascended Dominion pushing her to ‘act’ to spread Love everywhere she went had almost turned Cadence into a threat on-par with Nightmare Moon. When the bit had dropped, so to speak, it had taken almost an entire third year in therapy for Cadence to come to grips with what she had done, what she had almost become, and in a bitter twist of irony, it was only after she had accepted these flaws and sworn to never abuse her ability that the Powers had seen fit to reach down and cause her to Ascend from Pegicorn to Alicorn.

Faust only knew if Pinkie Pie was an empath or it was just whatever strange gift allowed her to tap into the powers of Chaos to teleport at will, her bizarre knack of predicting the future and her unique ability access pocket-dimensions also allowed her to spread laughter and joy in her wake, regardless of the intentions of those around her. Princess Celestia had read both the Royal Agents’ reports and Twilight’s own studies and still couldn’t get a firm grasp on just what the bubbly, bouncy Earth Pony was.

And now fate had delivered a fully grown adult Pony into her hooves, one that should have been detected years ago by highly-paid, supposedly well-trained and outrageously legally-protected Royal Agents whose jobs were to find the unusual and the dangerous and bring them to her attention immediately. To have an Empath pop up right then and there, in the middle of when everything was going to tartarus in a handbasket, and one that had been a part of her Royal Guard and no-doubt vetted and checked a dozen times over by countless officials and bureaucrats before being assigned his post was almost enough to make the Solar Princess want to go on a rampage through the Castle until she found those responsible and brought them to task!

If she didn’t know better, Celestia would swear the Powers were actively working against her, or at least seeing just how far she could be pushed before losing her temper in public. It wouldn’t be the first time they had tweaked her nose and reminded her of humility, or left her with dire reminders that Immortal though she was, a God was not her station nor destiny, but she was certain that the Powers wouldn’t play that sort of game in a situation as dire as the one before her. They valued saving lives, after all, and wars were notorious for doing the exact opposite.

And yet, you’ve seen first-hoof that they are perfectly willing to allow an entire world to go to war and turn a blind eye while the dominant species wipe each other out to allow newer, better creations to flourish. A cold part of Celestia’s mind pointed out, making the Solar Monarch shiver, a movement that had nothing to do with the crisp pre-dawn air. The mammoths, the thunder-lizards, the land where Tirek and Scorpan came from …

Enough! Celestia quietened the rebellious part of her mind with a sharp whip-crack of a command and turned her full focus to the young Empath himself, who had apparently limped over while Celestia was lost in thought and was currently saluting just as crisply as the Border Captain … but also looked like he was either going to faint or pee himself just by being in her presence.

“Private Dappled, I presume.” Celestia murmured softly, trying hard to not laugh as the poor Stallion saluted again and this time succeeded in banging himself straight on the muzzle in the process. “At ease, both of you. I assume that the Changeling Queen is subdued? The last thing Canterlot needs is a running battle through the streets.”

“At the risk of sounding … sympathetic to the ‘enemy’, your majesty, I think a kitten-fart could push her into the pits of tartarus right now.” Captain Glimmer said after a short, shared look with Private Dappled. “The Changelings’ Queen looks like somebody dropped a house on her, and she’s with three foals. The few of her Changelings that are still alive are half-starved themselves and are desperately protective of their Queen.”

“It was a castle.” The Solar Monarch corrected, smiling down at the two Border Guards.

“Beg pardon, your majesty?” Dappled squeaked, eyes going wide. “Did you just say …”

“A castle. Princess Twilight Sparkle dropped a castle on-top of Queen Chrysalis after recovering three fillies that the Changelings had kidnapped from Ponyville in an attempt to lure Princess Twilight out so they could capture her.”

“Wow. Well, that explains why Sparky got the wings then.” Glimmer muttered softly, closing her eyes and sighing, while Dappled litereally trembled in-place.

“Ahem, yes well, the Changelings?” Princess Celestia urged when it became apparent the two Border Guards were becoming somewhat overwhelmed by the news, and the throbbing vein in Rosebush’s temple appeared to be reaching the point it would literally burst. “Exactly how did the Magi suggest we transport them to the Castle without causing a disaster?”

“Uhmm, about that, your Majesty, Ma’am, the Magi came up with a … a odd method. And you’re going to need to have somepony see to refurbishing the carriages after we’re done.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celestia found herself trying to not keep sighing at the state of things as the ‘refugees’ stumbled their way up to Canterlot Castle, clustered protectively around the cloth-covered wagon carrying their ‘wounded kin’, the gaggle of ragged-looking earth-ponies and pegasi, all wearing red ‘scarves’ that had once served as the blinds on the carriages’ windows, surrounded in-turn by Royal Guards and Magi, with the empath, Dappled, sitting in the passenger-seat of the wagon, horn flickering with barely-visible magic as he created a bubble of ‘disinterest’ around the whole procession.

Should anypony or anything be able to pierce Dappled Light’s spell-barrier, the cover story of Celestia personally taking an interest in a family of wanderers who might have clues about how Sunset Shimmer had managed to return to Equuis, and then run afoul of a Chimera on their way to warn Canterlot of the danger, and thus needing to take them into protective custody and away from potential threats, like the media, would hopefully cover up why Princess Celestia herself was marching alongside the ‘refugees’.

The only reason she did not feel absolute terror at allowing Changelings to roam her city with such an easily-discarded disguise as a scarf and so few Guards to ‘escort’ them was because when the Changelings had seen her, the ‘Hive’ had all but prostrated themselves and begged her to spare their Queen, who in turn had shakily emerged from the train carriage, looking more like a pony put together out of shattered black porcelain rather than a true threat to Ponykind at large, and in turn knelt and sworn a blood-oath that she and her Hive would do no harm unless harm was done to them, drawing the blood from a leg with her own fangs to seal the oath and using her own magic to do so, the exertion of which almost killed her and earned both Princess Celestia and the ailing Changeling Queen a dire look from the burly middle-aged nurse that was looking after the three Changeling foals.

The Solar Monarch could feel the power of the oath even now, even as her skin crawled at the use of blood magic. Yet the oath was obviously functional, binding the Changeling Queen and her surviving kin from doing any harm …

Unfortuantely, it also bound Celestia and those who followed her in turn. A clever little trap by the Changeling Queen, but then capital punishment had never been a goal of Princess Celestia, even if certain individuals richly deserved it. Still, the blood-oath served its goal and would allow Celestia and her Ponies to safey contain the Changelings and keep them from doing harm of any kind.

The same could not, however, be said for the Kattians. The strange, small, fluffy cat-like creatures refused to leave the carriages, mewling unhappily and swiping half-heartedly at the Guards, Magi and Changelings who tried to coax them out. Captain Rosebush was decidedly unhappy about being left with a handful of Guards and Magi on ‘cat-sitting duty’, but Celestia was unwilling to leave a sentient, if mute, species alone in a strange and alien city without protectors or escorts.

The march to Canterlot Castle felt like it lasted an eternity, though it was only an hour or so. The dimly-seen shapes of the Night Guard, including Major Nightshade, acting-commander of the Night Guard, whose hideously-obvious neon-yellow mane was both a source of comfort and irritation to the Solar Monarch: Whatever personal failings, the Thestral might possess, her courage and combat skills were amongst the best all the branches of the Royal Guard could boast and would thus be invaluable if the Changelings truly planned mischief, or worse still, the Shadow Council made another move against her, but the infamous Thestral’s all-consuming need to show-off was flying straight in the need for stealth on this mission.

Faust as my witness, if I make it through the next week without suffering a coronary, another assassination attempt or an scatter-brained attempt at a political coup d'état, I’m going to seriously consider taking Discord up on his offer and scarper off to a tropical beach somewhere for a month or two and do nothing but raise and lower the sun and just be me for a while!

It was … distressing to say the least, seeing how easily Dappled Light’s innate gift allowed them to slip un-noticed into the Castle proper. Veteran guards with many commendations and years of decorated service yawned and looked the other way as the Changeling Queen was clumsily extracted from her cart and carried into the Castle. Loyal and dedicated maids, butlers and the variety of other roles that kept the Castle running like clockwork became distracted or walked away from their tasks when the group passed too close.

Thankfully, getting the Changelings into the North Wing proved simple enough, although Dappled looked utterly exhausted when he finally canceled his spell and had to be slung over a Royal Guard’s back when the poor Border Guard collapsed on the spot, and with disturbing meekness, the Changelings accepted being paired up into the ‘secured’ rooms, all marked with steel doors painted a dark crimson hue and loaded with as many spells and charms as the physical confines of the rooms would allow.

Doors, floors, walls, ceilings, even the bedding, mirrors and horrifyingly enough, the chamber-pots had been warded with every kind of spell from scrying and anti-teleportation wards to runes of paralysation and stunning. The Changelings merely took one look, gave a collective shrug and simply crawled into their beds, shedding their illusions in small flashes of green fire that set half a dozen strings of runes in each room flaring for several seconds before the Magi on hoof sent the counter-runes into play and cancelled the alarms.

“Slightly … overprotective of your little Ponies, aren’t you?” Chrysalis coughed, smiling sadly as the Changeling ‘Guards’ who were carrying her pushed on to the ambassador room, where the Magi who had not been sent out to collect the Changelings said Bleak Mountain awaited, along with the castle physician who had been summoned, hopefully discreetly, when the Night Guard had broken off from their patrol over the ‘refugees’ and retired to their normal duties.

“They are my children, in a way. I will defend them from any dangers, from within or without.” Celestia replied, mentally wincing at the heat and bluntness of her words. Easy, Celestia. Whatever her flaws and crimes, Chrysalis was the one to reach out to you for peace. Do not let stress and fear make you drive her away, or into a corner where she has no other option but to lash out. “Once we … make peace, I suspect our greatest trial will be finding you and your Hive proper lodgings without causing the more skittish residents of the Castle throwing hissy-fits at their new neighbours. The red rooms were designed for hostile guests to Equestria, and do not provide the comfort and amenities that a race seeking amicable relations with Equestria deserves.”

“My my, already assuming we’ll be bossum buddies, even before my trial is concluded?”

“In the five thousand years of my life, Queen Chrysalis, I have come up against many would-be emperors, tyrants and warlords and turned them to the path of peace and harmony.” The Solar Monarch locked her eyes on the swimming green orbs of the Changeling Queen, whose wan smile quickly faded into a thin, frightened line at the intensity that bored down at her from the Alicorn’s gaze. “I have turned thieves and bandits into beloved heroes of the people, convinced necromancers and demon-cultists into becoming humble farmers and helped the most damned of souls find peace with themselves and their pasts.”

“You are not the first, nor hardly the worst, reprobate to spend your time recuperating under my roof. If it will save your life, and ensure continued peace and prosperity for both our peoples, you can believe that I will make a friend out of you.”

“Hip-hip-hooray for friendship then.” The Changeling replied weakly as the door to the ambassador’s room opened in a shimmer of the electric-blue magic of Bleak Mountain’s telekinesis, where the hooded leader of the Magi awaited, along with a rather ruffled-looking Bedside Manner, the Royal Physician, did a double-take as he finally saw his ‘patient’.